I guess first things first...what's a tachometer? For those unfamiliar with all of the little measuring instruments on the dash of your car that tell you what your engine is doing, the tachometer is the one that gives you the rpm (or revolutions per minute) your engine is making...granted there's a lot more that goes into it than that. On average, your tachometer's needle should be resting somewhere between 2 and 3 for optimal running of the engine. Well, mine doesn't do that. Instead, the needle on my tachometer has rotated all the way around dial and is now measuring backwards, or counter-clockwise. This used to be fine, when all I had to do was estimate the distance between 0 and 2.5 on the dial and flip that measurement to the other side of the starting point to see how my car's engine was actually functioning. For the most part, it was fine, and I could estimate that the 2-3 inch arch was measuring correctly on the opposite side of the dial, in the wrong direction. It worked. But recently, the needle has been sporadic, swinging back and forth and never really settling anywhere. Even more unfortunate, and initially worrying, when it does hold steady, it's actually shaking over "the red".
Perhaps, you're wondering why I'm telling you this. Well, I had a revelation last week on my drive into the city that my tachometer shows a little bit of how my life feels. So before, while my tachometer was working, only backwards, I knew that it was wasn't right, but at least I could gauge what it was saying. At least it made sense. But what am I to do with a stupid needle that can't hold still, that won't really tell me anything except that it's broken??? Unsettled and swinging sporadically on the wrong side of the meter, that need is leading me nowhere, and even more unsettling are the (too) occasional seizures it has over "the red". Am I burning rubber in the wrong place and over-heating? Time will tell. The important thing to remember, I suppose, is that while I tachometer doesn't work, my car still does. In other words, while I'm out of sorts and unsettled, my life still functions. And just as my car can go in many different directions that can lead to an exponential number of destinations, my life can do the same. It's the turns, detours, stops, and starts that determine my path - a path that is defined by the experiences along the way. So where's my next turn?
And while I'm on a car/life analogy kick, I'll mention that one of the meters on my dash that does still work is the odometer - you know, the one that tells you how are you've traveled. Interestingly, while it always tells us how far we've come, what it can't do is tell us how much farther we have to go. So, I will drive on...
